All good things must come to an end, eventually, and for the 91原创 Tier 1 Thunder, that meant their five-game win streak to start the season came to a halt on Tuesday night.
Hosting the Port Coquitlam Junior Saints at 91原创 Events Centre on May 13, the T1 Thunder were on the short end of an 8-7 score in BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reality check for the boys and I think everyone understands that now after talking about it,鈥� said 91原创 coach Connar Abrams. 鈥淲e just have to learn from this loss and take it forward to our next game.鈥�
Coming off a dominant victory two days earlier where they scored 16 goals, 91原创 struck on four of their first five shots, leading 4-0 less than eight minutes in and prompting the Saints to swap their goaltenders, handing the crease over to call-up netminder Pete Gombar. And from there on out, the T1 Thunder struggled to find the back of the net, scoring just once over their next 29 shots as they found themselves trailing 8-6 with 6:37 remaining.
91原创 did get within a goal but could not find the equalizer.
鈥淗ats off to him; we didn鈥檛 have much film on him, we didn鈥檛 really know where it was to find that sweet spot. He stepped in and rose to the occasion so hats off to him; he did a great job,鈥� Abrams said of Gombar who came off the bench to make 34 saves on 37 shots.
Abrams did like his team鈥檚 resolve as they nearly battled back from that three-goal deficit late in the contest and had multiple shots in the dying seconds.
Dallas Kilpatrick led the 91原创 offence with a hat trick. Cashton Hemsworth, Kiyoshi Copeland, Brett Billings (a call-up for the T1 Thunder) and Jameson Reed scored a goal apiece with Reed and Braydon Longacre finishing with three assists each.
Marcus Khan finished with 46 saves as his team was outshot 54-42.
Next up for the team is a visit to Maple Ridge on May 16 to face the Burrards.
The 91原创 Thunder lacrosse organization consists of Senior A, Junior A and Junior Tier 1 teams who play in the Western Lacrosse Association, BC Junior A Lacrosse League and BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League respectively. All three teams play their home games at 91原创 Events Centre.
